NVC Course Packaging

Technology for Auditors

Meeting
Glass Containers and Ceramics
Agenda
Glass
• Raw materials
• Glass manufacture
• Glass container forming processes
• Decoration
• Properties
• Hazards
Ceramics
• Raw materials
• Production process
• Hazards
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GLASS
Question
• Any experience with glass packaging?
• Or with glass-related recalls?
RAW MATERIALS
Types of glass
• Quartz glass (100% silica)
• Soda-lime-silica glass = packaging glass
• Window glass (with magnesia oxide)
• Sodium borosilicate glass (no thermal
expansion; laboratory and oven use, vials,
tea and coffee pots etc., pharmaceutical
packaging and can be used for hot fill
packaging)
• Lead-oxide glass, crystal glass, lead glass
= so called table glass, nice gloss
Packaging glass - Raw materials for
bottles and jars
• Readily-available materials
– high purity silica sand ~ 70%
– limestone (calcium carbonate) ~ 10%
– soda ash (sodium carbonate) ~ 15%
– alumina (aluminium oxide) ~1-2%
– cullet - recycled glass (crushed, ready to be
re-melted), which lowers the melting
temperature and saves energy - each 10%
cullet added lowers the energy requirement
by 2.5%
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Raw materials

8
Raw materials for coloured glass
• Specialised colourants
– Amber - iron, sulphur, carbon
– Green - chromium oxides
– Blue - cobalt oxides
– Red - selenium, cadmium, antimony sulphides
– Purple - manganese compounds
– Opal - fluorides, phosphates

9
Raw materials for special functions
• Specialised materials
– selenium & cobalt oxides with function as
decolourisers
– boron compounds for low thermal expansion
and high resistance to thermal shock

10
Main glass types for packaging
• Soda lime - most common in food and
drink packaging
• Borosilicate glass for laboratory use and
pharmaceutical packaging

11
Recycled glass – use of cullet
• Possible weakening of glass structure by
impurities in cullet stream
– Ceramics cause white stones
– Tamper evident aluminium rim of closures
causes black stones of silica that is pushed out
of the network

12
Recycled glass – use of cullet
• According food contact legislation packaging materials
may contain no more than 100 ppm heavy metals
• One exception: glass may contain up to 200 ppm of
lead
• Source is drinking glasses thrown in bottle banks
• Lead is taken up the molecular structure, leaching of
lead from surface could occur, amounts will be
neglectable
• X-ray control on cullet can reduce this
• If needed it can be managed by Declaration of
Compliance by glass factory
• Remind, migration test is not mandatory
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GLASS MANUFACTURE
Glass manufacture
• Capital-intensive process - note
typical furnace cost and expected
life
• High energy usage - note melting
temperature of 1500°C
• Continuous operation 365 days per
year

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Glass manufacture
• Raw materials weighed in batches and
mixed
• Mix is added continuously to the furnace
• A furnace is dedicated to one colour
– White flint (clear)
– Amber, for UV sensitive products or for decoration
– Green, for decoration, cheapest glass to produce
– Blue, for decoration
– Other colours can be added at the forehearth
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Glass manufacture
• Main section at 1500°C
• Bridge wall to hold back impurities
• Refining section feeds several
forehearths, each feeding one glass
forming machine
• Glass in forehearth is at ~1100 °C
• Special colors may be added here
• Glass flows to forehearth by gravity 18
Furnace

19
Furnace

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Cross-section of furnace

21
Glass manufacture to glass forming
• Plunger forces molten glass through
measured orifice
• Water-cooled mechanical shears cut off
precise amounts of glass, known as ‘gobs’
• One gob forms one container
• Control of gob glass quantity directly
affects container weight and capacity
• Production capacity is increased by use of
double, triple, quadruple gobs
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Forming the gob

23
GLASS CONTAINER
FORMING PROCESS
Glass container forming processes
• Requirement for container-specific tooling
• Each container requires a parison mould
and a finishing mould, assembled from
precisely machined metal (commonly cast
iron)
• Independent section machines use several
identical moulds
• Moulds are identified by numbers/dots on
the base - useful for traceability
• Often also coded with UV-visible inks 25
W.. 'IO"U'lPC_..
Glass container manufacture
• Two common processes
– Blow and blow, commonly used for narrow
neck containers
– Press and blow, traditionally used for wide
neck containers but later also for narrow
necks - NNPB - narrow neck press and blow
• Other processes
– Tubular glass forming (mostly
pharmaceutical packaging)
– Pressing of glass (bowls) 27
Blow and Blow

• Narrow Neck Containers

• Standard (heavy) Weight 28
Press and Blow

• Wide Mouth Containers

29
Narrow Neck Press and Blow

• Narrow neck containers

• Lightweight (20% lighter than Blow and Blow)
30
 Set of Equipment
Blank
Mould

Baffle

Neck
Ring
Bottom Plunger
Block

Guide
Blow
Plate
Head 31
Glass container manufacture
• Compared with blow and blow, press
and blow offers
– Better glass distribution and thus neck and
wall thickness control
– Because of the mechanical plunger the
tooling costs are higher

32
Glass IS-machine (Moerdijk NL - Ardagh)

33
Question
• Ever visited a glass factory?
Coatings and annealing
In order of the process, after forming the
package
• Hot end coating
– Chemical vapour deposition on the glass
– Titanium and tin chlorides
– Are chemically taken up in the glass structure
• Annealing from 550°C to ambient
• Cold end coating
– On the surface of the glass
– Waxes, oils
– Lubricant for processing on conveyors
– Can be washed off
Hot end coating
• Passing a tunnel
• Chemical vapour
deposition of tin and
titanium chlorides
Annealing - The Lehr

• Rapid cooling during

forming leads to
stress
• Relieve internal
stress
• Temperature control
– Reheat glass
– Hold to release stress
– Cooling down in ca. 1
hour
37
Completing the process
• Spraying a
lubricant on
the bottles
• Not always
wanted on the
sealing surface
of the closure

38
Inspection
• High degree of 100% online inspection,
mostly after annealing:
– Squeeze test - weak points, cracks
– Bore gauge - neck dimensions Also
– Rim on the finish tests!
– Crack detector by vision
– Wall thickness by vision
– Pressure - for carbonated drinks bottles
– Vision for imperfections
• Offline laboratory tests, like
– Volume
– Hammer tests 39
Movie
• Go to the website learningatnvc.nl
• Look for the link for the movie about glass
Question
• What are the learnings up to now?
• What are critical aspects?
Inspection
• Inspection equipment requires adjustment
for each bottle design
• Rejected containers recycled as cullet
• Feedback of information to forming stages
• Statistical process control
• Visual inspection and off-line laboratory
testing also carried out

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Bottle

43
Critical defects
• Bird swings (wires of glass through the
bottle)
• Nail in the neck (caused by sticking to the
plunger)
• Black stones (caused by presence of alu
tamper evidence ring)
• White stones (caused by ceramic parts)
• Rim on the finish
• Moved halves of the closure
• Tears in the finish
Quality Rim on finish which can
control break off during closing

Nail
Black stones
White stones
Bird swing

Critical defaults 45
W.. 'IO"U'lPC_..
Quality control
Critical defaults

Moved
Moved halves of the
halves of
bottle
the bottle

Tears in finish
Moved halves of the
bottle, side view and top Rim on finish which can
view break off during closing 47
Quality control
Required height
Flat rim
over 180

Major
defaults

48
Quality control
Minor defaults

Small folds in
surface

Small blisters

Folds

Small cracks, not

through and
through 49
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Packaging
• Glass shipped on standard
pallets
• Normally layer packed and
shrink wrapped
• Can be case-packed for small
quantities
• Date coding for traceability
• Encourage use of returnable
transit packaging
• Pack stability and pallet
utilisation influence total cost

51
 Process overview
Making bottles
Making
glass Annealing

52
DECORATION
Decoration of glass containers
• Glass colour if volume is large enough -
ideally 3-day minimum production run
(several 100 of thousands of bottles)
• Embossing of surface design, especially
logo for branding & anti-counterfeiting
• Matt surface by hydrogen fluoride (not
very environmentally friendly process)
• Surface colouring with lacquers
• Surface printing (screen or pad printing)
• Ceramic decals
• Labels (spot, wraparound)
• Sleeves 54
Example of bottles with surface
coating
Be aware of
volatiles of
used lacquers;
and if curing
process is
needed and
used
Example of screen print; cured at high
temperature after printing
Swing tops with ceramic caps and
plastic or rubber ring to close the
bottle

If reused (refill),
be sure of
microbiological
cleaning of
rubber ring
PROPERTIES
Properties of glass
• Inert for food products
• Total barrier to moisture/gases (subject
to integrity of closure)
• Not deformed by changes in
temperature or pressure
• Clear, sparkling
• High quality image

59
Properties of glass
• Accepted as recyclable
• Weight provides stability on filling lines
• Weight increases transport cost
• Noisy on filling lines
• Fragile - safety and contamination
hazard potential must be managed
• Integrity of closure is of importance

60
Design considerations
• Standard vs. custom tooling
– Cost and lead time
– Unique shape for selling function
– Can incorporate anti-counterfeit measures
• Container capacity
– Legislation: contents/volume declaration
– Headspace; allow for expansion of product e.g.
alcohol

61
Design considerations
• Closure
– Standard neck finishes
– Reminder: food contact between plastic inlay or coating
of closure and content of jar of bottle; plastic or coating
needs to be food grade (see hazards of plastics)
• Cork
– Natural cork, one piece; chance on TCA
(trichloroanisole), caused by moulds coming from the
bark of the cork tree
– Cork made from waste pieces; adhesive can be on base
of phenols; source for fungi for TCA, so also hazard
– Plastic corks, see plastics for hazards
62
Design considerations
• Filling line
– Low centre of gravity
• Display and storage
– Secure stacking - interlock with closure

63
CERAMICS
Ceramics – raw materials
• Several types of clay minerals
• Talc and talc related minerals
• Silica and silicate minerals
• Feldspar group of minerals
• Main elements: oxygen, silicon and
aluminium
• Remind: earth elements like clay and
feldspar can contain heavy metals
Ceramics - production
• Raw materials
• Pulverizing, mixing, filtering etc.
• Moulding
• Green machining (turning, drilling etc.)
• Sintering (high temperature process)
• Finishing (polishing, glazing etc.)
• Clays can form a clay-water composition
which maintains the shape and strength
during drying and firing
Ceramics - Council Directive
84/500/EEC – Hazards (Summary)
• Ceramic objects used to contain foodstuffs
may transfer lead and cadmium to these
foodstuffs (toxic and can constitute a risk
to human health)
• Maximum limits for cadmium and lead
transferred by ceramic objects to the
foodstuffs are defined
Ceramics - Council Directive 84/500/EEC
– Declaration of conformity
• To be sold, these ceramics must be
accompanied by a written declaration by
the manufacturer or importer,
guaranteeing that they do not exceed the
maximum limits for lead and cadmium.
The information required is described in
Annex II (introduced by Directive
2005/31/EC)
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS?

69
HAZARDS

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HAZARDS GLASS (1/2)
• Stress in glass can cause breakage (related to
annealing), safety issue
• Physical: glass parts in the packaging
• Chemical: lead control is needed, related to
content of recycled glass, flushing to clean bottle
• Volume according legislation and labeling
• Quality of produced packaging, mainly critical
defaults on physical base like bird swings, nails,
rims on the finish, blisters, cracks, stones in the
surface
• Adjusting testing equipment to every new bottle
HAZARDS GLASS (2/2)
• Common aspects related to hygiene and good
house keeping (dust, pest, rodents, etc.)
• Surface colour coating; watch out for the
used volatiles and quality of curing process
• Swing tops; plastic or rubber ring that closes
the bottle: see hazards of plastics. If reused:
washing process of plastic or rubber ring
(microbes)
• Closures: metal caps with coatings, plastic
caps (see plastics), choice of inlay (loose
inlays can fall out) and type of plastic with
additives, cork (TCA)
HAZARDS CERAMICS
• Physical: parts can break of
• Biological: GMP related, hygiene
• Chemical: migration of heavy metals lead
and cadmium
 The end of part
‘Glass and Ceramics’

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